“Mama, tell me a story.” Last night I put my hand on your chest and felt your heart beating, frantic with nightmare. My touch soothed you and you slept on peacefully. I wished then that all the moments of your life would be so beautiful. “Mama, tell me a story.” When you were tiny, your … Continue reading Stories

“Strawberries! I want strawberries!” My daughter, three at the time, ran over to the display and grabbed a container of bright red berries, then turned to put them in our cart. I looked at the price: $4.99 for a quart. “Not today, sweetie,” I told her, hoping I wouldn’t get a tantrum. “Let’s go pick … Continue reading SNAP Food Boxes Are a Terrible Idea

“Your body was made for better things than Rheumatoid Arthritis.” So says the television ad for one of the many treatments for my disease. The woman in the ad wakes in a bright bedroom with crisp white bedding, looking perfectly coiffed (no bedhead). She proceeds to do all the things an upper middle class white … Continue reading Drug Advertising Pisses Me Off

This is the second post in the Badass Feminist series, highlighting feminists in all parts of the healthcare world - patients, providers, administrators, and others. My name is Pamela Simmons, I am 51 years old and I live in Putney, Vermont. I am a patient with permanent issues. In 2005, I took a bad fall; … Continue reading Badass Feminist: Pamela Simmons

Fair warning: this piece is about sex. Specifically, it’s about the fact that people with chronic illnesses are people first, and are often sexually active, just like the rest of humanity. Now that you’ve been warned, let’s talk about the popular conception of someone with a chronic illness. In a lot of people’s minds, a … Continue reading Sick People Have Sex

(This is the first of a series of interviews with badass feminists in the healthcare world.) Kate DeWolfe is a patient representative located in Brattleboro, Vermont. They are both a patient and a provider, and dedicated to improving psychiatric treatment for all. How would you describe yourself in a healthcare setting (i.e. patient, provider, etc.)? … Continue reading Badass Feminist: Kate DeWolfe

The day the Senate voted on a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act I walked through my day with every muscle in my body taut with anxiety. I checked Twitter regularly, hoping for some clue about how the vote would go. I went to therapy and fretted about the vote and what it might mean … Continue reading Politics, Stress, Illness, and Privilege

Trauma is not something you get over - it’s something you live with. It comes into your house, makes itself at home, and overstays its welcome. If you’re like me, you walk around it, altering your path through your living room to avoid stepping on it. Or you pretend it’s not there and avoid the … Continue reading Making Tea With Trauma

Arrive on time, wait calmly, know the names and dosages of all my medications, have a pain rating ready, check off my mental list of symptoms and medication reactions - I have become good at being a patient in the medical system. As many before me have noted, this system excels at symptom management, but … Continue reading Healing Touch in Chronic Illness

The scrapes and bruises from my fall down the stairs are healing, as they do, from the outside in and in uneven fits and starts. My fall was a spectacular one - a moment of unsure footing a third of the way down the stairs, and I landed at the bottom rather covered in minor … Continue reading Healing Mental Wounds